1908 Rare Book - Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. First Edition illustrated by Rackham.
Author: Shakespeare, William. (Illustrator, Arthur Rackham).
Title: A Midsummer-Night's Dream.
Publisher: London, William Heinemann, 1908. First Rackham Illustrated Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size : 10 " X 7.5 ".
Pages: 134 pages.
Binding: Attractive and Fine binding handsomely bound in half green morocco with gilt-lettered title labels and tooling to the spine, matching cloth sides (hinges fine) under a protective removable mylar cover. A very nice binding!
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light toning - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the forty wonderful tipped-in color plates by Arthur Rackham, each with captioned tissue guards.
The book: Rare First Rackham illustrated edition in a very nice Binding! A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict between four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed.
The illustrator: Arthur Rackham RWS (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading literary figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolour, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator.
Rackham's 51 colour pieces for the Early American tale became a turning point in the production of books since – through colour-separated printing – it featured the accurate reproduction of colour artwork. Some of his best-known works include the illustrations for Rip Van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.
The author: William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard").